1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bi-directional overrunning clutch assembly such as would be used for purposes of power transmission, especially in fluid power driven machinery and equipment.
2. Background Information
Hydraulic systems are popular in applications involving hazardous, dirty, and nasty environments, such as coal mines, quarries, food processing plants, and construction sites.
Much effort has been expended in trying to increase the efficiency and performance ranges of hydraulic drives. The experience of co-inventor, George H. Morgan, over the past 35 years, has been that simple mechanisms in convenient packages for bolting between hydraulic components such as hydraulic pumps and motors, greatly simplify and extend the range of applications for hydraulic driven machinery and equipment.
This is especially true for brakes, clutches, and brake/clutch combinations.
Past industrial surveys have indicated that the field of brakes and clutches is most frustrating for machinery designers. They can't find what they want and application information is inadequate in many instances. The problem is especially acute for short run equipment and machinery manufacturers.
As an example, the development of the AUSCO™ failsafe brake and clutch line featured brakes, brakes with one way clutches, and clutches in convenient configurations that bolted between planetary gear boxes and hydraulic motors, most of which had mounting configurations to the SAE J744 pump mounting standards. With standard convenient configurations, ready to bolt into position, with large factors of safety, the simple approach was very well received by equipment and machinery designers. By having standard, off the shelf configurations, matching what was already out there, marketed through fluid power distributors as an afterthought with the hydraulic motors and pumps, produced in respectable volumes, the approach swept the industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The approach solved a real problem in the application of brakes and clutches for the short line equipment builders. The volume demand permitted economics of scales that led to the acceptance by major manufacturers beyond short run equipment builders. While there is a double over-running clutch available from HILLIARD™, it is not in a package convenient to short run equipment manufacturers.